SatelliteGuys Family

My 15yo Klipsch 12" downfiring subwoofer has developed a nasty loud rattle sound (almost snapping) on movies with a lot of deep base (explosions, etc). I had to turn the speaker down ~6db to stop hearing it so now I suspect I'm not getting anything from it. Is it worth trying to repair or should I just spring for a new one? Looks like a replacement is under $500.

Addicted to new HW

My old Sunfire sub had a power transistor fail, blowing the fuse. I tried to bypass the 10A fuse with a higher rating and this caused the power transistor to become a plasma arc cutter, burning a hole through the multi-layer circuitboard underneath. So, yes, a subwoofer can go bad.

I've seen the voice coil on the speaker motor become delaminated, causing contact with the stator and making a "tick" or "scratch" to the sound. Usually a problem with overdriving the speaker, or a failure in the adhesive holding the voice coil together.

SatelliteGuys Pro

Of course you've checked for a bad surround on the driver? Narrowed it down to mechanical or electronics?
You didn't say which Klipsch and if it's powered or unpowered.
There's a pretty good following of Klipsch out there.

Satellite Guys Family

We have an old Pioneer S-W1000 active subwoofer/center channel that I managed to get free about 20 years ago. The parents of a teen gave it away because the teen played music too loud and the sub was really bothering them.

This made a great addition to our home theater setup. Rather than trying to remember to turn it on and off every time we used the system I just kept it turned on all the time. Fast forward to a couple of years ago. One winter we started hearing an occasional crackling sound. Since we had recently received a big snow and ice storm that had started to melt we associated the sound with the snow and ice melting and shifting on the roof. One day the sound turned into large booms and I realized it was the sub. I took it apart, sourced parts and installed all new capacitors. I also cleaned all the switches and potentiometers with Caid Laboratories DeoxIT D5. To avoid having it turned on all the time I added a Russound ACT-1 triggered AC outlet to the 12V trigger on the amp. It has been working great since the refurb!

SatelliteGuys Master

Be watchful about losing some features with the newer models. Older models had speaker pass-through as well as an RCA jack and if you're system needs speaker pass-through, most of the cheap subs don't provide it.

SatelliteGuys Family

Bad surround on thr driver?? ?? More info... It is a KSW-12 powered. Fed into the LFE input from a Denon receiver. Bypass set on 120, level on 5. I will look at it to see if it has come apart between the coil and speaker parts. Not sure if I know how to determine that. My floor standing speakers are also Klipsch (RF3 II) and I'm not sure that I'm really needing a sub. The room is ~25x17 but seating is ~12-15 from the speakers and mostly used for movie watching (very little music).

SatelliteGuys Master

I believe that you would miss a subwoofer if it went away. The RF3 II is rated for 37Hz to 22KHz with a pretty leisurely drop-off at the low end. If you hadn't had a sub before, it would likely be a different experience.

Press On Regardless

I have one of these. There could be something simple at play here. The Klipsch is a ported sub with an open port in back. It is possible to have foreign material dropped in the port and become wedged in the back of the cone.

I would suggest opening it up and seeing if there is something in there before buying a new sub. You can also look for torn cone or sticking coil at that time.

An online search shows replacement elements and/or amps available for about half the cost of a replacement sub.

SatelliteGuys Pro

My 15yo Klipsch 12" downfiring subwoofer has developed a nasty loud rattle sound (almost snapping) on movies with a lot of deep base (explosions, etc). I had to turn the speaker down ~6db to stop hearing it so now I suspect I'm not getting anything from it. Is it worth trying to repair or should I just spring for a new one? Looks like a replacement is under $500.

SatelliteGuys Pro

I have had two Polk Subwoofers fail. The first failure was due to a voltage surge that wiped out a TV, subwoofer, variable speed furnace blower, and furnace control module. The fuses on the subwoofer kept blowing. My homeowners insurance helped cover the loss. The second failure was under warranty and the Polk engineers sent me a replacement subwoofer circuit. The failure started with chirps that eventually got louder and louder. The Polk technician said that the problem was due to blown capacitors.